I had Prof Jarvis in 1991 at UMass Lowell and this book was part of the curriculum for the Beat Literature class he taught. He was a wealth of stories and while not an actual "member" of the beats* he was right there next to them and taking notes.
I could not wait to get to his class and loved reading this book even more with the benefit of a few years removed from knowing Prof Jarvis.
Highly recommended.
*Highly charged class discussion about this that I still remember.